Police Must Take Responsibility

Letter to the editor

Members of the Hartford community and surrounding towns came together on the evening of Aug. 22 to talk about the recent incident where an 18-year-old was tased by a Hartford police officer even as the teen was backing away from the officer with his hands at his side [Aug. 23, Connecticut, "Use Of Taser On Teen Focus Of Policing Forum"]. Among those who spoke were police chiefs from Hartford and Windsor, Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.

What powerful voices they might have been in a discussion about how this event could have occurred in the first place and how to make sure it is never repeated. Instead, we heard platitudes about communities coming together, citizens taking responsibility for keeping their communities safe and crime-free, and the need for parents to teach greater lessons of respect and responsibility to their children. That conversation should be taking place in every community in every state across our country but it is not the conversation that was needed on Aug. 22.

While I respect those vital goals, concentrating on them at this particular community meeting only served to place the onus of solving the problem of police excessive use of force on the shoulders of the victims rather than on the police department. We are well past the time when blaming the victim should ever be considered a valid choice of action.